Rail joint



May 14, 1940. A. N. BROGDEN I 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 20, 1938 V5 0 filfred f grqyczeh.

y 1940- A. N. BRCGDEN 7 2,201,075

7 RAIL JOINT Filed Jan. 20, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 jwww 265m;

Patented May 14, 1940 UNITED STATES RAIL JOINT I Alfred Nathan Brogden, Blackpool, England Application January 20, 1938, Serial No. 185,995 In Great Britain January 26, 1937 3 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in rail joints of the type in which the ends of lengths or sections of rails are so shaped that when fitted to a correspondingly shaped rail end 5 they overlap to form a continuous rail of even thickness.

According to the present invention the meeting or lapped faces of said rail ends are provided with complementary concave and convex surfaces whereby the contact area of the lapped rail ends, whenbolted together is enlarged and a strong and self-aligning joint produced.

The invention is more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings 15 in which:

Fig. l is an end sectional view of a rail joint, and

Figs. 2, 3, 4 and are plan views drawn to a reduced scale of forms of rail joints to which the invention can be applied.

Figs. 6, 7 and 8, are respectively, elevation, transverse section and end view of one form of apparatus adapted to machine the rail ends for effecting the lapped joints. (The tools are omitted from Figure 6 for the sake of clearness.)

Referring first, more particularly, to Figs. 2 to 5, inclusive, the ends of rails I, 2, are reduced to half-width or approximately half-width, as shown, and overlap as at 3, 4, the lapped joint with the fish plates 5 or washers plates 6 being 30 either suspended between adjacent chairs or sleepers I, 3, as shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 5, or supported thereon, as shown in Fig. 3. Said rail ends are provided with elongated bolt holes for the reception of the customary bolts as shown, and

3 the washer plates 6 may conveniently be formed by dividing a standard fish-plate 5 in equal parts.

As indicated in dotted lines 9', Fig. 1, the rail may be flat-bottomed, but obviously the invention may be applied to rails of any suitable shape 40 in cross section.

Reverting now more particularly to Fig. 1:

In Fig. 1 lengths or sections of rail at the lapped parts 3, 4 deviate from the vertical plane defined by the line I0, ll, the contact face of part 3 being concave and the contact face of part 4 being convex about a median plane intersecting and parallel to the rail web; such radius of curvature is shown by the line [2, I3, (shown exaggerated in the drawing for the sake of clearness). Thus it is ensured that said contacting faces shall'at all times maintain their relative alignment and a firmer connection between the two rails is obtained and this notwithstanding the expansion and contraction of the rails; which movement is facilitated due to the guiding effect resultant on the concavo-convex fitment.

In a convenient method of manufacture of these joints, a plurality of rails, such as I, I, are mounted on the periphery of a cylinder or 5 drum l6, Figure 6, and are supported at both ends Hi in suitable bearings ll, such bearings being part of headstocks l8 which carry tools l9 whereby simultaneous turning and boring respectively of the rail ends 3, 4 is effected. Inter- 1 mediate bearings for the drum are provided in numbers suitable to the length of rails and drum.

In the arrangement shown the tools l9 are stationary and the drum I6 revolves, but if desired the tools may revolve whilst the drum is stationary.

In the particular arrangement illustrated in Figs. 6, 8 and 9, the drums l6 revolve, carrying the rails I past the tools It (say six in number) carried by the headstocks I8. At one end of the machine the rail end is turned to produce the convex half 4 of the lapped joint of Fig. 1 whilst the other rail end is simultaneously bored to the same-radius to produce the concave half 3 of Fig. 1. Said cutting tools L! are indpendently adjustable and each is provided with separate feed motion.

The centre portions of the drums it, which partly carry the rails I, are units by themselves and are mounted on tyred wheels 26; an axle constituted by a flanged cylinder 2| connecting said wheels 20, 20 in desired spaced relative positions. The wheels 20, 20 are engaged respectively by rotatable track wheels 22 mounted on axles 22 so that the drum I6 revolves true. There are two flange tyred wheels 20 and one plain tyred wheel 20. These three wheels take their share of the weight of the rails which are threaded through holes 23 in the webs of the wheels 20, 20 and are firmly held therein. 0

The central drum unit carrying the plain tyred wheel 20 and the two end drum units 16 which revolve on the large stationary bushes i1, have each large gear wheels 24gearing into pinions 25 on a main driving shaft 26 which is driven by a motor 21 and reduction gear 28.

The central drum unit carrying the wheels 20, 20 and the two end drum units Ill are kept 'in correct relative angular disposition by the three pinions 25 on the main driving shaft 26 and are thus maintained in alignment to allow the rails to thread through said holes.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: u

1. A rail having a relatively short portion at its end of reduced width throughout its length from head to flange, presenting on one side a surface in continuity with the normal outer surface of the rail and on the other side a surface of partial cylindrical contour extending completely and uninterruptedly from the top of the head of the rail to the bottom of its flange.

2. A scarfed rail joint comprising a pair of longitudinally lapped rails the abutting ends of which have been cut away at the middle vertical plane to substantially half the width of the rail in a smooth cylindrical contour from the top of the head of the rail to the bottom of its flange,

the side of one rail end being convex and nesting into the concave side of the other.

3. A scarfed rail joint comprising a pair of longitudinally lapped rails the abutting ends of which have been cut away at the middle vertical plane to substantially half the width of the rail in a smooth cylindrical contour from the top of the head of the rail to the bottom of its flange, the side of one rail end being convex and nesting into the concave side of the other, the top and bottom edges of the cylindrical contours lying in a common vertical plane at right angles to the base of the rail.

ALFRED NATHAN BROGDEN. 

